Any loopholes to the inability to post solo rounds?

[Nachosgrande]

I'm stuck in a situation where I joined a club this spring after 8 years away from the game. I don't know anyone anymore so I always have to play solo rounds (back in the day I would usually get paired with someone, but this does not seem to be case anymore). My problem is that in order to play events at the club I have to have a handicap, but I can't because I can't post my rounds. I tried to meet people through the men's league, but it's only teams, so you have to know somebody. Is there any loophole that allows me to post solo rounds? Can I just record every shot with my phone?

[davep043]

1 minute ago, Nachosgrande said:

I'm stuck in a situation where I joined a club this spring after 8 years away from the game. I don't know anyone anymore so I always have to play solo rounds (back in the day I would usually get paired with someone, but this does not seem to be case anymore). My problem is that in order to play events at the club I have to have a handicap, but I can't because I can't post my rounds. I tried to meet people through the men's league, but it's only teams, so you have to know somebody. Is there any loophole that allows me to post solo rounds? Can I just record every shot with my phone?

There's no loophole as long as you want to follow the Rules.  Have you talked to the pro shop staff,asked to be paired with people?

[Nachosgrande]

6 minutes ago, davep043 said:

Have you talked to the pro shop staff,asked to be paired with people?

Yes, they said they'll ask around. Because of COVID people still aren't really populating the clubhouse, so I can't just go to the bar and try to meet people there either.

[2bGood]

I suggest you try the Grinder ap. It will match you with other men who work hard on their golf game looking for people to hook up with.

 

But to your specific questions the only work around for solo rounds is you can have a non golfer join you and post.

Edited January 9, 2022 by 2bGood

[Krt22]

Are you not allowed to join another tee time? 

[Nachosgrande]

1 minute ago, Krt22 said:

Are you not allowed to join another tee time? 

 

It seems like it's almost all singles going off. I don't know how anybody has a handicap, but they are clearly posting scores.

[Pepperturbo]

22 minutes ago, Nachosgrande said:

I don't know anyone anymore so I always have to play solo rounds (back in the day I would usually get paired with someone, but this does not seem to be case anymore).

Easy, play solo and take your card into the Pro shop for a pro to review and sign off.  Two things happen, you develop a closer tie with the Pro-staff and post your score.  IMO some people take the "SOLO" process a bit to serious. 

Edited July 2, 2021 by Pepperturbo

[Krt22]

5 minutes ago, Nachosgrande said:

 

It seems like it's almost all singles going off. I don't know how anybody has a handicap, but they are clearly posting scores.

Just tell the proshop you want to carry an index and thus ask them to pair you up with groups. If they don't do that tell them to play with you as a marker...IIRC they just need to play with you for ~7 holes. If they still can't accommodate well find a new club lol. 

[Sawgrass]

1 hour ago, Pepperturbo said:

Easy, play solo and take your card into the Pro shop for a pro to review and sign off.  Two things happen, you develop a closer tie with the Pro-staff and post your score.  IMO some people take the "SOLO" process a bit to serious. 

IMO you aren’t taking it seriously enough. Discussing a round with a pro after it is completed does not meet the qualifications process of playing WITH someone. 

1 hour ago, Krt22 said:

Just tell the proshop you want to carry an index and thus ask them to pair you up with groups. If they don't do that tell them to play with you as a marker...IIRC they just need to play with you for ~7 holes. If they still can't accommodate well find a new club lol. 

No such 7 hole rule exists, other than posting a nine hole round after the completion of seven holes.

 

OP, the requirement for you to play with someone doesn’t require them to be playing themselves.  A caddie, for example, would suffice. Or perhaps the course would allow you to bring your own non-playing friend so you could be accommodated. 

[Sawgrass]

From Handicap rule 2.1, an acceptable score must be made

• In the company of at least one other person, who may also act as a marker (subject to satisfying any other requirements of the Rules of Golf),

[Abh159]

What is your club's "policy" for posting rounds? Meaning do you have to turn in your scorecard to the pro shop and they post it, or do you just post via the GHIN app or website (assuming you're in the US)?

 

I agree with the others that simply having another person (playing or not) would be the correct thing to do within the rules, but if the club doesn't require you to formally turn in your cards/scores you could easily just post your solo rounds online. 

 

I'm not saying that's the moral or ethical thing to do, but it would solve your issue. 

[Augster]

I wouldn’t do it myself, unless I played an exceptional round, but…

 

plenty of guys play solo and post their rounds. You could also. 
 

If you’re honest and not trying to game the system, post your rounds if you feel you need to. You will likely end up with a vanity cap that you can’t play to in competition, but you do you. The scores you post playing relaxed at a quick pace by yourself will be significantly lower than if you played with others, waiting, at a slower pace, and with pressure. I’d figure at least 2 shots different. 
 

Solo golf has nearly nothing in common with tournament golf.

 

If you’re willing to cheat the system by posting honest scores shot solo, and take the beatings a vanity cap will dole out, good on you I say. Post everything. 

Edited July 2, 2021 by Augster

[Sawgrass]

OP, it occurs to me that if you had a handicap eight years ago, and have been away from the game (not played) since then, if you can someway access your old scoring record (still have your GHIN number?) you still have a valid handicap.  (Probably too low given your current game, but hey.)  

 

If you can get that data, and your new club events don’t have a conflicting rule, you can use your old handicap to enter events and build on that. At least you’d be playing with someone during the formal events.

[dvq9654]

Here's a question - let's say instead of playing solo, you are paired with three other people who you don't know. You play the round, keep your score accurately and post it after the round. However, the people you played with weren't interested in you whatsoever so you never really interacted with them and they certainly didn't care about your score or your record keeping. Are you ok to post this round? And, if so, how is this any different than a solo round? 

 

Not trying to be provocative or challenge the solo rule but more so curious where the line is drawn 

[davep043]

Just now, dvq9654 said:

Here's a question - let's say instead of playing solo, you are paired with three other people who you don't know. You play the round, keep your score accurately and post it after the round. However, the people you played with weren't interested in you whatsoever so you never really interacted with them and they certainly didn't care about your score or your record keeping. Are you ok to post this round? And, if so, how is this any different than a solo round? 

 

Not trying to be provocative or challenge the solo rule but more so curious where the line is drawn 

This goes back to the early days of the WHS discussions.  No other organization in the world has ever allowed posting of rounds played solo.  Most places have allowed primarily competition scores, with very limited acceptance of casual play. The choice of the USGA to join the rest of the world in disallowing solo rounds for handicap purposes was the first step towards making a (somewhat more) unified handicap system.  

[dvq9654]

1 minute ago, davep043 said:

This goes back to the early days of the WHS discussions.  No other organization in the world has ever allowed posting of rounds played solo.  Most places have allowed primarily competition scores, with very limited acceptance of casual play. The choice of the USGA to join the rest of the world in disallowing solo rounds for handicap purposes was the first step towards making a (somewhat more) unified handicap system.  

 

That makes sense, but what I'm really getting at is - just because you are playing alongside someone doesn't mean you are keeping your score more accurately than you would if you played solo. In a competition you certainly would, but in a casual round it's debatable.  

 

The rules are the rules and I understand why they are the way they are, but I generally believe that during casual rounds people who keep accurate scores will keep accurate scores and those who don't won't. Being paired with someone isn't going to change this, unless that other person has a vested interest in your score. In most cases they do not. 

[Krt22]

8 minutes ago, dvq9654 said:

Here's a question - let's say instead of playing solo, you are paired with three other people who you don't know. You play the round, keep your score accurately and post it after the round. However, the people you played with weren't interested in you whatsoever so you never really interacted with them and they certainly didn't care about your score or your record keeping. Are you ok to post this round? And, if so, how is this any different than a solo round? 

 

Not trying to be provocative or challenge the solo rule but more so curious where the line is drawn 

Yes you are. It is different because they can at least attest 1) You actually played and 2) At least have a reasonable idea of what they scored. Even if they were not interested, they would know the difference between a 75 and 105.

[RainShadow]

1 hour ago, Augster said:

I wouldn’t do it myself, unless I played an exceptional round, but…

 

plenty of guys play solo and post their rounds. You could also. 
 

If you’re honest and not trying to game the system, post your rounds if you feel you need to. You will likely end up with a vanity cap that you can’t play to in competition, but you do you. The scores you post playing relaxed at a quick pace by yourself will be significantly lower than if you played with others, waiting, at a slower pace, and with pressure. I’d figure at least 2 shots different. 
 

Solo golf has nearly nothing in common with tournament golf.

 

If you’re willing to cheat the system by posting honest scores shot solo, and take the beatings a vanity cap will dole out, good on you I say. Post everything. 

You're correct about the score difference. I post all my rounds, solo or with others. While I occasionally shot a lower score with my regular foursome, my best scores often come when solo or with complete strangers. I wouldn't call it having a vanity cap, per se, because it's not purposeful. I just post all my rounds unless it's truly practicing, hitting multiple balls, etc.

[Sawgrass]

40 minutes ago, RainShadow said:

You're correct about the score difference. I post all my rounds, solo or with others. While I occasionally shot a lower score with my regular foursome, my best scores often come when solo or with complete strangers. I wouldn't call it having a vanity cap, per se, because it's not purposeful. I just post all my rounds unless it's truly practicing, hitting multiple balls, etc.

Well, you shouldn’t post your solo rounds, irrespective of what you think the impact might be.  
 

When you decide to get a handicap, you are tacitly agreeing to play by the handicap rules in your location.  Deciding on your own which rules to comply with and which to ignore is a disservice to everyone you compete against.  

[RainShadow]

1 hour ago, Sawgrass said:

Well, you shouldn’t post your solo rounds, irrespective of what you think the impact might be.  
 

When you decide to get a handicap, you are tacitly agreeing to play by the handicap rules in your location.  Deciding on your own which rules to comply with and which to ignore is a disservice to everyone you compete against.  

Is this the new rule? 

Like many, I play alone fairly often. If I only post when I play with others, I'd only have half the rounds I play counted towards my handicap.

I'm not a member of any club, and my GHIN is kept through PGASS. I use Golfshot for score and stats. 

I played for a while with a " traveling " local club, if you want to talk about "making up your own rules"..... I dropped due to that very issue.

I'm not sure if anyone in my regular weekend foursome turns in a card, as we are passholders, not members at the course we frequent. No One ever ask me to sign a card, or attest their score. One of the guys is a scratch and well known around town.

 As I said, my scores are usually higher when I play with others or in a tourney, so if I don't post my solo rounds with better than average scores, I'm only hurting me........if I shoot a low score with the higher index from not posting my solo rounds, I'm at risk of being called a sandbagger. Seems like a no win situation to me.

 

 

Edited July 2, 2021 by RainShadow

[sui generis]

3 minutes ago, RainShadow said:

Is this the new rule? 

 

 

New Rule? No, it's a couple of years old. 🙄

[davep043]

5 minutes ago, sui generis said:

 

New Rule? No, it's a couple of years old. 🙄

2016, if I remember correctly

[RainShadow]

6 minutes ago, sui generis said:

 

New Rule? No, it's a couple of years old. 🙄

New- ish, then.

 

[Sawgrass]

6 minutes ago, davep043 said:

2016, if I remember correctly

Did it come before the WHS in January 2020? I didn’t think so, but I could be wrong (my guess is it was instituted with all the other changes in 2020) and I never bought a hard copy of the old handicap manual so I can’t easily check.

[sui generis]

4 minutes ago, Sawgrass said:

Did it come before the WHS in January 2020? I didn’t think so, but I could be wrong (my guess is it was instituted with all the other changes in 2020) and I never bought a hard copy of the old handicap manual so I can’t easily check.

 

My recollection is that, in the USA, it predated the WHS by a year or two.

[Nels55]

2 hours ago, davep043 said:

This goes back to the early days of the WHS discussions.  No other organization in the world has ever allowed posting of rounds played solo.  Most places have allowed primarily competition scores, with very limited acceptance of casual play. The choice of the USGA to join the rest of the world in disallowing solo rounds for handicap purposes was the first step towards making a (somewhat more) unified handicap system.  

I wonder what the thinking in the rest of the world is behind not allowing solo rounds?  Are solo players really unusual and maybe thought of as rather odd?  Is it normal to turn in verified cards to somebody in authority who posts them?  The only time I am not in complete control of what I post is when I play in a tournament.  I golf with golfers in my men's club and various other clubs and we all post our scores without anyone verifying so the no solo round posting is really rather irrelevant in our situation.  I am thinking that this is probably different elsewhere in the world?

[Sawgrass]

I just found this article stating 2016, good on you, Dave!

 

https://golf.com/news/the-usgas-ruling-on-solo-rounds-is-a-real-handicap/

[sui generis]

And here we thought that Golfwrx had the "rules am stupid" market cornered. Seems Golf Magazine has at least one, too. 🙄

 

The USGA’s Ruling on Solo Rounds Is a Real Handicap
By Dick Friedman, JANUARY 13, 2016

 

 

[CAT GOLFER]

6 hours ago, Krt22 said:

Are you not allowed to join another tee time? 

This, just join a tee time.  If they move off, try another one.  If your club still allows individual carts there really shouldn’t be many that move off the time.  Easiest solution.  This is how you meet people and this is how you can get a sign off on scores.  

[2bGood]

4 hours ago, dvq9654 said:

 

That makes sense, but what I'm really getting at is - just because you are playing alongside someone doesn't mean you are keeping your score more accurately than you would if you played solo. In a competition you certainly would, but in a casual round it's debatable.  

 

The rules are the rules and I understand why they are the way they are, but I generally believe that during casual rounds people who keep accurate scores will keep accurate scores and those who don't won't. Being paired with someone isn't going to change this, unless that other person has a vested interest in your score. In most cases they do not. 

 

The majority of those the keep handicaps play some version of 'club golf'. Either at a private club, or as part of club with in a public course. Given this, golfers you typically play with do have some level of interest in your score. If there are anomalies it does get noticed.

 

I liked the R&A system better where only competitive rounds counted. It worked in the UK as the golf culture is a bit different with very regular events.

 

At-least having you play with someone else is a step in a better directions. 

 

 

Edited July 3, 2021 by 2bGood